On social media associated with the Libyan uprising of 2011, two images have become ubiquitous. One is the pre-Qaddafi flag of the Libyan monarchy. The other is the image of Omar Mukhtar, a guerrilla leader killed by the Italians in 1931.

In a recent article clearly mistakenly published by the McGill Tribune, columnist Vicky Tobianah argued that the Egyptian revolution was first, and foremost, a revolution for food. That the starving people of Egypt wanted to be able to eat before they wanted a free and democratic society. She also felt pangs of fear for possible ensuing instability in the region with the toppling of Hosni Mubarak. And by regional, she really only meant Israel.